Meet Zena Thorpe

Although she was a Southern California resident for more than half her life, Zena Thorpe was born in England, and her work reflects Britain’s ancient history.

She learned all needle crafts except quilting from her mother, who was very patient in showing and explaining. Zena learned the joys of quilting after coming the United States.
In the beginning she made simple utilitarian Log Cabin quilts for the kids’ beds. Once she became acquainted with pictorial appliqué and discovered that she could create a picture in fabric, she really “turned on” to quilting.

Her quilt gallery is simply amazing.

ILLUMINATED ALPHABET won first place in the large appliquéd wall quilts category at the 2008 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show & Contest in Paducah, Kentucky, and 3rd place in the Innovative Appliqué category at the 2009 International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas.

Zena was named one of 30 Distinguished Quilters of the World by Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. In 2003, her quilt KELLS: MAGNUM OPUS was designated a Masterpiece Quilt and Zena was inducted into the Master Quilters Guild, an institution of the National Quilting Association.